Semi-Life Crisis, need practical advice (longish)

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call your advisor at school and explain your problem, see if you can skip this semester without losing your placement in the fall. find a job. save up. go to school in september with money in the bank, so you don't have all this pressure on you. school isn't a race. delaying graduation by a year isn't going to kill you.

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this is really good advice, and I would probably do it, except that I feel like such a dropout when Im not in school. I have all this potential, Im a smart guy and I am just not putting it together. Kinda makes me feel like a failure.

I think there's a possibility I would do this for the summer mini-mester, then continue in the fall.

regardless, thanks for the advice.

[[censored]]

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[ QUOTE ]
call your advisor at school and explain your problem, see if you can skip this semester without losing your placement in the fall. find a job. save up. go to school in september with money in the bank, so you don't have all this pressure on you. school isn't a race. delaying graduation by a year isn't going to kill you.

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this is really good advice, and I would probably do it, except that I feel like such a dropout when Im not in school. I have all this potential, Im a smart guy and I am just not putting it together. Kinda makes me feel like a failure.

I think there's a possibility I would do this for the summer mini-mester, then continue in the fall.

regardless, thanks for the advice.

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does your college have an online campus which would allow you to take a course or two while focusing on getting your house inorder?

hmm, I would definitely need some advice on easy online courses, as my planned class schedule for this semester would be difficult online, I feel:

University physics 1
Calc 2
Discreet Mathmatics
Programming Fundamentals (do-over, botched class drop)
Fundamentals of 3-d design.

I think I'll try Programming Fundamentals.

Good advice again, thanks.

[surfinillini]

I would advise against taking a semster off, my old roomate did that in the same situation as you and he never returned...he now is 24, no degree and bartends.

FINISH YOUR DEGREE - don't take a semester off

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I would advise against taking a semster off, my old roomate did that in the same situation as you and he never returned...he now is 24, no degree and bartends.

FINISH YOUR DEGREE - don't take a semester off

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this is exactly my point. I want to finish school more than anything, more than my family could ever want me to, but I just dont see how I can do that all and get this all straight.

(the following may be skipped as it is completely full of dreamer content and is likely naive)
I couldnt live with myself if I let my voice go unheard because I was too lazy to get a damn degree.
(over)

i strongly recommend you reconsider taking a semester off. if you can get things in order before january, then by all means attend school. if you can't, however, going to school is going to be far, far worse than delaying graduation for a bit. how are you going to perform at school (and that's not the easiest course load i've seen) when you have no money and no means to get more? delaying graduation is not. a. big. deal. flunking out, however, is.

i may be biased, since i'll be going back to school in september after a five year break, but there's nothing wrong with deferring your education. some of the most successful people i know didn't attend college at all until their late 20s. many of my current friends are still in school. missing one semester, in comparison, is nothing.

By no means do I think it's wrong to go late, but this wouldnt be the first time I "took a semester off"... it would just be the first time I was forced to. The other times I was just lazy.

I think the happy middle ground might just be taking two classes online, since oh yeah, I just forgot all of my student loans would come due if I were less than half time.

yippee.

anyone had luck with online courses that were okay to take online? By this I mean you didnt feel you were at a huge disadvantage having no classroom setting.

i did a couple english courses online my first time through school. they were ridiculously easy. i assume history courses would be really easy too. any humanities requirements you still need to pick up?

[cwsiggy]

One word of encouragement - I would kill to be your age again.
You are young. One semester off won't kill you - but only if you will truly go back ASAP. I'm leaning towards Surf's advice to finish. Definitely talk to your school's advisors.